Time Wait For No One (Part 8 & Epilogue)

[Coran]

Marilynn’s gaze darted around the room frantically looking for some way of escape, or
some weapon with which to defend herself. Silently she sorted through everything she
saw... coffee table, couch, chairs... a lamp! Her gaze locked on it for a moment, then she
returned to looked at Jake as she contemplated her next actions carefully.

“Should I make your death long and slow, or should I be merciful and make it one shot,
right between the eyes?” Jake smiled cruely as he offered those possibilities.

“Please.... please don’t Jake! I love you... I’ve always loved you!” Marilynn sobbed
slightly even as she began to tense.

Jake snorted, “That the reason you sent an assassin after me. Yeah... I believe that!”

Marilynn suddenly lept towards the lamp. Almost lazily Jake raised his gun hand and fired
once... right through Marilynn’s right leg.

************************************************

A scream of pain and terror broken the stilness of the night just as the three hero’s roared
up. Batgirl lept from her motorcycle and charged towards the house, several yards ahead
of the others. Leaping quickly she dove through a window and executed a perfect
shoulder roll back up to her feet, just in time to see Jake facing her with the gun raised.

“That was stupid.” Jake said matter of factly as he fired off four rounds into Batgirl’s
stomach. Batgirl dropped to the ground as Nightwing and Robin charged in. Robin
dropped at Batgirl’s side with an anguished cry, but Nightwing charged towards Jake his
eyes like flint. In one smooth motion he dove into Jake, knocking him back about ten feet.
In literally seconds Nightwing was on top of Jake again, and the slug fest began. Fancy
moves went out the window as the two began slamming fists into each other. Jake tenses
his legs and kicked Nightwing off of him, then jumped to his feet. They were bothing
looking bad. Nightwing had a bloody nose and bloody lip, but Jake looked worse. Jake
had a broken nose, and his face was covered with bruises. “Next time, Nightwing!” Jake
growled, and then charged outside. Nightwing paused for a moment, looking back to see
Robin helping Batgirl sit up... her kevlar suit had done it’s job.

Nightwing smiled, and then turned, racing after Jake with all of the speed he could
muster... “Your mine!” he growed quietly.

************************************************

Robin sighed with relief when Batgirl finally sat up, then turned and moved over to where
Marilyn was laying. She had fainted away because of the pain, and was lying there
unconscious. After checking to make sure Marilyn was OK he picked up the phone and
called an ambulance.

************************************************

Jake smiled grimly... he could hear his persuer and knew there was only one person that
could still be following him. Nightwing! Racing onward he ran up to the skeletal
beginings of a new house. Quickly he began climbing, hoping he could maintain his slight
lead.

************************************************

Nightwing smiled triumphantly and quickly fired off his grappling hook. A press of a
button and he shot towards the roof, landing easily. Moments later Jake climbed up.
Nightwing stalked towards Jake, his gaze hardening with each step. “You’ve killed many
people Jake! And now it’s time to pay the piper!” he growled.

Jake laughed softly as he stood there easily, “It’s not quite that simple Nightwing. You
may be able to take me to jail, but they have to prove I did something wrong... and there’s
no proof. I have no idea what you’re talking about for killing people. Marilynn tried to
kill me and I was defending myself when I shot her. I was very careful not to kill her.”

Nightwing’s eyes widened slightly as Jake smiled, “You see Nightwing? I’ll never see the
inside of a prison.”

Nightwing’s eyes narrowed as he lept forward and yelled, “That’s for the courts to
decide!”

Jake sidestepped and slammed his fists into the back of Nightwing’s neck. Smiling cruely
he reached over and picked up a length of re-bar. “And another reason I’ll never see the
inside of a court room... you’ll never get me there.” The re-bar raced through the air
toward’s Nightwing still form. Rolling suddenly, Nightwing’s two batons appears
suddenly, blocking the re-bar. A quick kick and Jake stumbled back up against the railing,
dropping the re-bar over the side in the process.

Nightwing stood, as the clouds over the moon through eerie shadows over his face, and a
gentle breeze blew his ponytail to the side. Moving slowly towards Jake he murmured
softly, “You’re finished Jake. Your mine.”

Jake stood, silent, his eyes fearful, and suddenly he pulled his pistol again. Nightwing
performed a swift roundhouse kick that knocked the pistol away, then spun slamming his
open palm against Jake’s chest to complete the maneuver.

Jake fell back over the railing, managing to grab onto the edge at the very last moment.
He looked down and saw rebar set in concrete pointing up towards him like giant spikes
just waiting to spear him. Then he looked up to see Nightwing’s hand extended towards
him. Jake smiled and said softly, “Watch carefully Nightwing... I may be dead, but
another will be coming... smarter, faster, stronger. Then you will face your ultimate test!
Especially when he knows your true identity... Dick Grayson!” Then Jake let go and
plumeted towards, laughing insanely the whole way down.

************************************************

“Nooooooooooooo!” Nightwing scream echoed after Jake as he threw a grappling line
towards Jake... but it was too late. Turning, he gritted his teeth and slowly moved away.
A few minutes later he arrived at the house where Robin and Batgirl waited.

“Did he get away?” Batgirl asked quietly as she nursed bruised ribs.

Nightwing shook his head slowly, “No... it’s over. We won’t be dealing with him
anymore.” then Nightwing glanced at Robin, “Take Batgirl’s bike back to the cave. With
her ribs she should be riding. I’ll drive her back.” Robin nodded and left quickly.

Nightwing turned and looked at Batgirl for a moment, then looped an arm around her and
the two slowly walked back to the batmobile.

************************************************

“So what are you going to do now Dick?” Bruce asked as he sipped at a cup of coffee. A
few days earlier his sight had come back, and Bruce was very happy to be back out as
Batman... though he didn’t let his emotion show.

“I’m going to go back to Bluehaven. I’ve done my job helping here, but Bludhaven still
need a hero, and I’m all they’ve got.”

“She’s going to miss you.” Bruce said quietly.

Dick shrugged, “It’d never work out anyway... trying to have a family when we’re both
crime fighters? I don’t think so.”

Bruce nodded as Dick stood up to go, “Good luck.”

Dick smiled slightly, “Thanks.” then turned and walked away. As he left to return to his other life, he remembered the nagging question... how had Jake known who he was?

************************************************

Barbara stood quietly staring out the window of her room, a few tears dripping down her
face. She lifted the note she held in her hand and read it one more time.

“Dear Barbara,
Life is full of surprises and changes. I love you, and I believe you love me, but we both
know it wouldn’t work. Our lives are filled with uncertainty. I hope you find happiness
somewhere along the line.

Love,

Dick”

************************************************

(Epilogue)
(2 years later)

“Barbara! Barbara Gordan!”

Barbara turned, a questioning looked on her face to see a young man running up, “Can I
help you?”

The man smiled, “Yes... I’m new to the area and an acquintence of mine said you would
be perfect to show me around the town... that is if you have time.”

Barbara looked into his eyes and felt like the man could see right through her... into her
heart. It was scary, yet enticing at the same time. In a moment, she came to her decision.
“Sure, I can show you around. What did you say your name was by the way?”

The young man smiled, his eyes shining brightly, “My name’s Derek. Derek Hall.”


(To Be Continued)

[Oracle]

Great job Coran! I'm a little sad that Babs and Dick aren't together, but there's always the next story. I hope you start the sequal soon. I'm looking forward to more.

[Panther]

You scared me for a minute! I thought this was going to turn out like the Killing Joke! Thank goodness for kevlar!

Also - I agree with Oracle, but, ummmm.... welll, I'm a little confused. Whose Derek Hall? Did I miss something - forget some vital piece of info some posts back?

Still, good story - don't leave us hanging too long!

[Coran]

Greetings Readers,
No need to worry about being left hanging to long, in the next week or so, depending on my time, I will be posting the beginning of the next story. It will be entitled "Vengeance". To help you figure things out Panther, I will point out the last names. The villian in this story was Jake Hall... the new person to show up is Derek Hall. Connection? Obviously. For exact details, make sure to read the next story.

P.S.

To make things easier on readers, for my next post I will put everything in one thread.